


In Sound and Silence

by endingthemes



Category: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Angst with a Happy Ending, Erik Has Feelings, M/M, Mental Institutions, Poor Charles, Protective Erik, Romance, Suicidal Thoughts, This is surprisingly not very dark at all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-17
Updated: 2015-09-17
Packaged: 2018-04-20 03:47:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4772342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endingthemes/pseuds/endingthemes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erik is assigned to care for the special patient in room 301.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Sound and Silence

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote this as a fill request for a prompt on tumblr for an asylum AU. I'm a fluff author so I was like, "oh no??? how???" but I tried my best and a challenge is always fun!

Erik’s been on the job for two weeks when Dr. Frost calls him into her office. He’s sure he’s done nothing meriting reprimand, but Dr. Frost is frowning at him as he enters.

“The patient in room 301,” she starts, watching Erik closely for a reaction. He supposes she’s digging around in his mind, so Erik offers up the information freely. He knows there’s a special patient in 301, but knows nothing about him — simply that his room is the only one completely sealed, no glass or windows to be found. Seemingly satisfied with what she finds, Dr. Frost continues. “Currently Angel is responsible for him, but she’ll unfortunately be leaving us next week, and I believe you’d be best suited to take over his care.”

Dr. Frost doesn’t say why, but Erik knows she always has her reasons, so he simply says, “Alright.”

“He’s a special case,” she says. “Angel will explain the details to you, but his family is paying for the best care, and that gets him an exclusive nurse. He’ll be the only one you’re responsible for from now on.”

Even though Erik tries to control his expression, his eyebrows are inching toward his hairline.

Dr. Frost ignores his reaction and hands him a thick folder. “Here’s the file. Look it over before you meet with Angel.”

*

Erik’s never seen a file like this. Charles Xavier has been diagnosed with nothing, but his symptom list is so long Erik doesn’t think he can sort through it in the time he’s been given. Anxiety, depression, mood swings, multiple personalities, psychosis, hallucinations, violent tendencies, suicidal ideation. Erik frowns down at the charts as he notes the dates of each suicide attempt. Suicide rates for mutants, especially those with physical mutations society has deemed unattractive, are through the roof, and Erik’s trying his best to help. He knows he can’t save each and every one, but maybe this Xavier still has a chance.

“Hey,” Angel calls, pulling his gaze from the file he’d been staring at blankly. “You ready to learn the Charles drill? It’s a lot of work, but you’ll love him when you meet him. Trust me.”

Erik follows her to room 301 and she pauses to unlock the cabinet beside the door, pulling out two helmets. His metal sense reaches for them immediately, finding that they’re made of the same mysterious mix that coats the entirety of the walls of Xavier’s room.

“Put this on,” Angel says, handing him one. “Never enter the room without it. That’s rule number one.” Erik obeys without question, and the helmet sits heavily upon his head.

“Why’s he not on any medications?” Erik asks. “With all those symptoms, I thought—”

Angel shakes her head and stops him mid-sentence.

“He’s not sick in the classic sense, Erik. He’s a telepath.”

Erik’s not sure what that has to do with anything. Dr. Frost is a telepath, and she’s running the place, not locked up in it.

Angel seems to sense his confusion, but instead of explaining, simply says, “You’ll see soon enough. Please keep your mind calm while we’re inside.”

She knocks on the door, the sound of it echoing down the quiet halls. “I’m coming in, Charles. I’m bringing your new nurse with me.” She pushes open the door and Erik immediately hears a drawn-out moan of pain. Angel ushers him in quickly and pulls the door shut tightly, and the moan cuts off.

It’s a perfectly comfortable room, with the walls painted a calming blue and books littered across the thickly padded floor because there’s no shelf to hold them. The furniture consists only of a standard single bed, a side table, and a cushioned chair. The man sitting on the bed is clearly weary, his eyes sad and ringed with the shadows of insomnia, and his hair and beard are scruffy and unkempt. Despite all of this, he’s beautiful in a way that Erik’s never quite seen before, and even with his delicate appearance, Erik senses strength.

“How are you feeling?” Angel asks, and Charles winces.

“Oh, I do really look a mess, don’t I? You’re right, Angel, the beard doesn’t suit me at all. I got the idea from Moe down the street who was just downright pissed that his beard wouldn’t grow and suddenly I had to have one for myself.”

Angel nods with a kind smile as if this conversation makes any sense. “We can help you shave it later, if you’d like. I came to introduce —”

“Erik Lehnsherr to you.” Charles finishes. “I mean, to me, of course.” He rises from the bed and approaches Erik, and though he’s short, his presence is huge. He narrows his eyes at Erik, searching Erik’s face intently, and then he startles, his lips parting in surprise. “A new helmet?” he asks.

Now it’s Angel’s turn to look as confused as Erik does. “No, same as always.”

“Fascinating,” Charles says, reaching out to touch and Erik stands frozen, watching. Just as the tips of his fingers graze the helmet, his hands suddenly ball into fists and his face contorts into a vicious rage. “That lying whore!” he screams into Erik’s face. “That fucking bitch! Thinks she can get away with cheating on me! I’m gonna kill her—gonna rip her fucking head off!”

Erik turns wide eyes on Angel as she gently pulls him a safe distance away from Charles, and they watch silently as he rages and curses at a woman neither one of them can see. He goes on and on and on until his voice becomes hoarse, and then he sinks into his chair and stares blankly at the floor, mouthing silent words.

Erik’s never felt more helpless in his life.

Lips thin, Angel leads Erik out of the room, and the only sound Charles makes is another low moan of pain as the door opens and shuts.

*

As Erik takes over Charles’ care, he learns everything he can. Charles is the most powerful telepath in the world. So powerful that he can hear thoughts from miles away. So powerful that he can’t block a single one of them out. His telepath-proofed room is made with the latest and most effective alloy known to science, but even through it, his mind can still pick up any especially strong emotions. Opening and closing Charles’ door lets in so many thoughts at a time that it’s searingly painful, but he’s desperate for company and more than willing to grit his teeth through it. The helmets help, but with such close contact, they only turn the volume of the caretaker’s thoughts down from excruciatingly loud to bellowing.

Every detail Erik learns makes him feel more ill.

Some days Charles seems perfectly fine, clean-shaven and flawlessly put together as he sits in his chair and reads incredibly complicated scientific journals, sharing interesting tidbits with Erik. Some days Charles is another person entirely. Monday, he’s a woman who’s just lost her newborn and is caught in the throes of grief. Tuesday, he’s a child who’s terrified of the monster under the bed.

On bad days, Charles is more than one person at once.

*

Today Charles is having a good day. He’s dressed in an expensive cardigan and pressed slacks, and he's smiling mischievously at Erik. “I want to try an experiment. Is that alright?”

“If it’s within the rules, of course,” Erik answers automatically.

Charles gives him a wink. “Such a stickler for the rules. But no, this should be fine. Come here.”

Erik approaches slowly and Charles reaches out to him, his fingers brushing Erik’s cheeks. Erik’s not sure what Charles is after until it’s too late and the helmet has been yanked from his head, sending him into a panic, his heart leaping into his throat. As Charles begins to slump to the ground, Erik catches him, and they slide to the floor together, Charles shaking in Erik’s arms. Erik's started to curse himself for allowing this to happen when he realizes that Charles isn’t in pain at all — he’s laughing.

“It’s still quiet,” he breathes into Erik’s shirt. “Erik, your mind is so quiet.”

“That was against the rules,” Erik chides only because he has no other words.

Charles looks up at him with a big smile, eyes wet. “You’re just whispers.”

*

Erik watches Charles fall into a relaxed sleep that evening, the helmet left forgotten on the padded floor.

*

“I thought there was a chance,” Dr. Frost acknowledges. “I can’t read you at all, and I thought perhaps you would be equally as inscrutable for Charles. It must be a part of your mutation.”

Erik’s too pleased with the results to be annoyed with her for withholding this information. “I’d like permission to be in the room without the helmet, and to…”

“Yes?” Dr. Frost prompts.

Erik’s face burns. “Charles says it helps when I touch him. He can focus on the quietness of my mind.”

Dr. Frost raises an eyebrow. “I’ll have to discuss this with Charles and his family, of course.”

Two days later, Erik is given full permission to touch and be touched.

*

Erik and Charles are playing chess, hands linked, leaving Erik to awkwardly move the pieces with his free left hand. He’s getting trounced, so he can’t help but tease. “Are you cheating?”

“For once,” Charles replies with an easy smile, “I’m actually not.” He looks healthier now. The darkness around his eyes has abated, and the exhaustion that hung over him like a heavy cloak seems to have been shucked.

If Erik’s holding Charles’ hand, he usually stays Charles. Erik’s always been proud of his mutation, but it’s the first time he actually looks heavenward and thanks a god he’s not quite sure he believes in for giving it to him.

There’s a familiar knock at the door announcing Raven’s arrival. She’s been coming more often lately now that she’s learned Charles can handle the loudness of her mind as long as Erik is there to ground him, and she enters the room smiling.

“How’re you today?” she asks, helmet safely on.

Erik continues to hold Charles’ hand, but glances away to give the siblings their privacy.

“I’m so glad for you, Charles,” Raven says at one point, and she sounds near tears, and Charles squeezes Erik’s hand so tightly that it hurts.

*

Three days later, Erik enters the room to find Charles curled up on the floor, whimpering. He rushes to Charles’ side, scooping him up in his arms, but Charles is in too deep to respond, his eyes glazed as he experiences someone else’s horrors.

“Charles,” Erik calls, rocking him gently. “Hey, Charles?”

No response, so Erik leans his back against the bed and settles Charles between his knees, cradling him against his chest and stroking his hair as he shudders. The worry growing in Erik's mind will only further irritate Charles’ delicate state, so he reaches for calm. Remembering a trick from his childhood, he pulls a coin from his pocket and begins to wind it lazily through his fingers, using his powers to soothe himself.

Charles stiffens in his arms, blinking out of whatever mind he was trapped in. “Erik?” he asks, voice trembling.

“I’m here,” Erik says and drops the coin. Immediately Charles slumps again, his eyes losing focus.

A moment of clarity has Erik remembering his conversation with Dr. Frost. _Part of your mutation_ , she had said.

Erik floats the coin back up, and Charles becomes lucid once again. Silently, they both stare at the coin rotating in the air, and for the first time, Erik feels hope spark warm in his chest.

*

Raven brings in the most brilliant scientist she can find. Erik isn’t initially impressed by Dr. McCoy, and his poking, prodding, and invasive questions, but he’s willing to put up with it for Charles. If he's being honest, he’s willing to do anything for Charles, and just when had that become true?

“So when you’re using your mutation, it completely blocks the thoughts?” Dr. McCoy asks.

“Yes,” Erik answers. “He told me everything goes completely silent.”

Dr. McCoy’s eyes are bright with excitement. “The electromagnetic pulses you produce when you use your powers must somehow affect his brain. If we can figure out the nature of these pulses, I think I could make something to replicate them.”

“Which means?”

“We might be able to make the whole world quiet for Charles.”

The news is so staggering that Raven bursts into tears.

*

It’s months before Dr. McCoy comes to the hospital with the first prototype, and Charles promptly passes out the moment it touches his head. The second one results in forced sedation when his powers are accidentally magnified, and he’s assaulted by more minds than ever before. The third one only gives him a nosebleed, and Dr. McCoy declares this a victory.

It’s nearly a year before Dr. McCoy brings a device he has full confidence in. It’s such a small and fragile thing, Erik thinks as he looks at its sleek metal lines, to bear the weight of so much hope.

Charles gazes up at Erik from where he’s sitting on the bed, one warm hand gripping Erik’s hip. Dr. McCoy and Raven watch as Erik slides the circlet onto Charles’ head, and they wait in breathless silence.

Charles blinks once, and then again and again. They’re all waiting for screaming or blood, but the only change is the reddening of Charles’ eyes. “Raven,” he says in a choked voice. “Take off your helmet.”

“Are you sure?” she asks.

“Please,” Charles says.

She removes it slowly, and the breath Charles lets out is half-sob and half-laugh, his hand sliding from Erik as he launches himself at Raven, enveloping her in a hug.

Dr. McCoy is next, hesitant even with Raven as the proof of his success. He smiles brilliantly when Charles doesn’t so much as twitch, gently laying the helmet aside.

Charles looks between the three of them, his eyes bright with wetness, and the joy radiating from him loosens the impossible tightness in Erik’s chest.

It’s too good to be real.

“The hallway,” Charles says, more animated than Erik has ever seen him, and it feels like the person Erik’s known until this moment was only a dull copy. “Can I go into the hallway?”

Dr. McCoy objects before Erik gets a chance to. “We should test slowly to make sure—”

But Charles is already at the door, throwing it open and darting from the room, ignoring Erik’s warning yell. Erik sprints after him, gut twisted in worry, but he finds Charles standing in the middle of hall, a smile of wonder spreading across his face.

“Erik, it works!”

“It works,” Erik repeats, and seeing Charles standing outside of his room for the first time makes it more real, more than just a fever dream that Erik’s brain has tricked him with because he wants it so badly. Erik’s always wanted to give Charles the world, and he’s beginning to feel like he has. “You’re free now, Charles.”

“Free,” Charles repeats, the smile stretching impossibly wider, and Erik is sure that Charles has never been more beautiful than he is in this moment.

In two strides, Charles closes the distance between them, grabbing Erik’s face and pulling him down into a kiss, right in the middle of the psychiatric hospital. A nearby nurse drops her clipboard, Dr. McCoy gasps, and Raven smirks, but Erik doesn’t see or hear any of it, completely absorbed in the feeling of Charles’ lips upon his, their bodies pressed flush together.

Erik knows that this isn’t the end. Charles will need therapy for years, and though the device is working now, there’s no way to predict the future. But Charles is in his arms, and he’s not in pain, and he’s alone in his head, and it’s all Erik’s ever wanted for him. Erik leans his forehead against Charles’, the thrumming metal of the circlet the only thing between them.

And though there’s commotion all around, finally everything is quiet.


End file.
